COLONEL'S TOUGHEST DUTY (Vietnam all over again)

[Ernesto]

"Battalion commander pays his respects, apologizes to Iraqis whose civilian relatives have been killed by anonymous GIs in passing patrols and convoys"
This is the kind of every day stuff that I remember from my Vietnam experience.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/14/MNGJ2F8D8L1.DTL

[HereSince1628]

1. I am guessing you were attached to a battalion or brigade HQ

I never read anything like an apology unless it was to keep a GI out of a legal proceeding.

[Ernesto]

2. I didn't mean the apology part....

I was referring to witnessing random acts of violence on civilians especially when I was on convoy security. I think the apologies were rare if any at all.

[gratuitous]

3. Hag Queen Barbara says it's working out very welll for them

C'mon, the survivors get $2,500 in blood money! What could be so bad about it? That's more dough than a lot of these ignorant, piss-poor ragheads will see in a year. From the article:

There was a moment of silence, as Mara'e and Wood looked at the floor.

"This was not my unit that did this," Wood finally said.

"I understand that," Mara'e nodded.

"But you live in the town where I live, and I'm responsible for you," Wood said. "I will be held accountable for this event."

Wood reached into his pocket and produced an envelope with $2,500 -- a compensation package the U.S. military gives to the families of innocent civilians its troops kill in Iraq.

_____________________________

(Aside from rant: Col. Wood is a stand-up guy. Resume rant) See what big-hearted, kind and generous people Americans are? I can't for the life of me understand why these inhuman bloodthirsty terrorists want to kill Americans, unless they hate our democracy and our freedom.

[Rose Siding]

4. No kidding about Wood- and how about Command Sgt. Major Samuel Coston

"I hate the fact that American soldiers ride around killing civilians," said Command Sgt. Major Samuel Coston, 44, from North Carolina. "All you got to say is 'I feel threatened,' 'the car was driving aggressively,' and you shoot. They have no remorse. They just keep on driving."

[2Design]

6. sounds like new florida law - n/t

[MADem]

13. I agree that the COL is doing his best

I only wish the Commander in Thief was as well.

The odd thing is, paying blood money is very common practice over there. The attitude is that if you compensate the family for the loss, and the family agrees to the compensation, well, all is forgiven.

In the US, you have to be a celebrity or super rich with great lawyers, and go to trial, to beat a murder rap, but over there, you just pay off the victims and go on your merry way.

Perhaps these random acts of shooting might diminish if they starting docking the pay of those whose trigger fingers are excessively itchy. The goddamn ROE are not a series of suggestions, they are orders.

[Dhalgren]

5. My gods...my gods...

How can anyone read that account and not be moved to sadness and anger? And what makes this whole fucking mess so un-fucking-believable is that it is all happening for no damned good reason. These are pointless, methodical murders and the US soldiers who are committing these killings are completely out of their minds. I could almost understand saying that the soldiers have to shoot first and worry about it later if the war against Iraq were one of necessity; but it isn't. It is a war for criminal greed and political gain and every death of an Iraqi in Iraq by US hands is, therefore, an unjustified killing; which we used to call murder...

[gratuitous]

7. I'd be more horrified, I suppose

Except that the situation of war degenerates to this EVERY. DAMN. TIME. Not just sometimes. Not just with "their" troops. Not just with some "rogue" elements of our military -- you know, the bad apples. But every time, in every war, every where, and every side. War dehumanizes combatant and civilian alike, until they're reduced to situation at the end of "Animal Farm," where the humans and the pigs are seated around a poker table eying each other suspiciously for cheating, and the folks looking in through the window can't distinguish one from the other anymore.

I'm ordinarily in favor the First Amendment, but the fucking degenerates who glorify war so as to dupe another generation into waging one should be strung up by the eyelids and beat on the balls until they blink.

[Ernesto]

8. Yes, you are correct......

This is what happens when chickenhawks are in charge. Too bad Powell, the only combat veteran, was basically surrounded & out-flanked by the PNAC "experts".

[Dhalgren]

9. I am with you!

War does dehumanize people on all sides, every time. That is why war MUST be ONLY a REALLY last resort - and it must be ended as quickly as possible with no bullshit nonsense about how war is not as bad as whatever boogieman is put up as its alternative.
ENDING THE WAR IS BETTER THAN CONTINUING THE WAR!

Sorry, but this shitty mess just pushes me right over the edge...

[Voltaire99]

12. Well said, Gratuitous.

Three poems on what you aptly deemed those "fucking degenerates" and their glorification of war:


Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est": http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html

Siegfried Sassoons's "Fight To A Finish": http://www.bartleby.com/136/15.html

Sassoon's "Blighters": http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/7143/

[Voltaire99]

10. "...American soldiers ride around killing civilians"

Drive-by shootings: they're not just for gangbangers any more.

[go west young man]

11. You know one thing we should have learned from Vietnam is

that a lot of assholes actually go in the military so they can shoot people. I'm not saying all service people are that way but as a former Marine myself I can say without a doubt there are a lot of idiots in the military and there are some who just enjoy blowing things up and shooting things. Thats the sad truth. I remember once being out in the field in South Spain my unit which was a 81mm mortar platoon decided they would blow up cows. The cows were a mile out and they blew them to smithereens. I couldn't help but think how stupid these guys are that I'm serving with. Just one incident of many that told me I had to get out of the Marines. Thank god I missed this ridiculous war. I feel sorry for the good ones in there who don't have a choice these days.

[coalition_unwilling]

15. While I'm not sure about the "asshole" label,

I do think the noxious "Support our Troops" mantra needs substantial revision. To wit, shouldn't we support only those troops who resist?

[Ernesto]

16. Semper Phi

I'll never forget the time our convoy slowed to go through a ville where the roofs were thatched. Well some bored grunt got the idea of tossing a burning c-rat heat tab on a roof. Of course it was a case of monkey see, monkey do.... Lots of laughs. As we got farther down the road, all we could see of the ville was smoke & flames.
The next time I passed through the area, the ville was totally burned down.... Lots of laughs. I just wondered how many new VC had been inspired by my company... Lots of laughs.

[madmark]

17. Your point is the most critical, everyone of these stupid acts creates

insurgents or al quada friendlies. That's why this war is such a disaster, it was inevitable that it would cause massive collateral damage and that damage would fuel Al Quada sympathy, recruiting and money.

[DS1]

14. I'd vow to kill ten for every member of my family shot dead

by a patrol of any nature.

[Ernesto]

18. kick